Jon Jones challenges Sonnen’s heart: He’s just weak in every way, shape, or form

Although they were rather polite and cordial on this season of TUF, there’s no doubt that both fighters are looking towards the horizon and beginning to put some mental fuel in the tank if you will.

In a pre-fight interview with UFC.com Jones made a few bold claims about his opponent beginning with his mental fortitude in the octagon:

“The beautiful thing about Chael is that he uses his words. That’s about all he has. He’s just a gang of quotes that no one is going to remember. He’s just weak in every way, shape, or form. He taps before submissions are even sunk in. If I put one hand around his throat, he’s probably gonna tap.”

Many comparisons tend to be made between that of Sonnen and boxing legend Muhammad Ali, simply for their witty articulation and gift for gab.

Being an admirer of Ali, his accomplishments and principles as a fighter, Jones doesn’t feel they should be lumped into the same category and even points out what he beleives to be the big difference between the two:

“Guys like Muhammad Ali, they said a lot of things that were bold statements. The difference between guys like Muhammad Ali and Chael is that guys like Muhammad Ali actually believe. No matter how much he tries to convince himself that he’s gonna win this fight or that he’s the champion without the belt; he just doesn’t believe and that’s why he comes up short in every opportunity he has to be a champion. He doesn’t have a champion’s soul, heart, work ethic. Nothing.”

Jones went on to complete the interview concluding with bold statements of his very own:

“He’s not a champion. He’s not made out of championship stuff. He just wants that spotlight. He wants that opportunity. He wants that big fight, and I’m gonna give him what he wants. I will defeat Chael Sonnen in an extremely devastating fashion.”

UFC 159 takes place this April 27 from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Say what you want about Chael, but I don't think Jones will walk through Chael like he has the rest of his opponents. Chael is much more aggressive and relentless with his attack than Rashad, Rampage, Vitor, Machida, Shogun, etc. He is constantly pushing forward, in your face, and his cardio is so crazy, that he can fight at first round pace for all 5 rounds. I'm not saying Chael's gonna win, but I think this will be Jones's hardest fight, and we might see Jones in some position's we haven't seen him in before. Remember what happened the last time we counted Chael out against an undefeated champion, he beat him up for 23 minutes…

Im pretty sure the 23 minutes is an exaggeration (thanks spell check) but if Chael was beating Anderson up the whole fight until he got tapped than how come his face so was beaten up? Meanwhile you could have run into Anderson the next day and not even known he was in a fight the night before.

@HighKick12 maybe so, but the "23 minutes" is no exaggeration. For 4 complete rounds and half of the 5th, Chael took him down at will, held him down, landed over 300 strikes, and apart from a few elbows from the bottom, Silva did not orchestrate any significant offense until he submitted Chael in the 24th minute of the fight. Now, maybe this means Chael punches like a girl, or Anderson has a really good chin, and heart. Be that as it may, Chael made Anderson look human, and you don't underestimate any opponent.

Jones is such a child. He has no place talking about people's heart. People say Jones proved his heart when he didn't tap to Vitor's armbar. But that is B S. Not like his arm got broken or really bent that far. That didn't prove anything. As much of a baby as Jones is, he would never have made it in MMA if his natural abilities were equal to Chael's. Sonnen should come back and tell Jones "At least I can hold my liquor."

First things first – Jon Jones is a Fcuking Cvnt! That said, he is right about Cheal Sonnen in each of the statements made above.

This fight is exciting for me as couldn't give a fcuk about who wins! I just hope both fighters get thrashed equally. Not that it's gonna happen, as I know this is going to be a one sided affair for Jones.

this fight is a Joke from the beginning. sonnen signed up for a ticket to hell. I bet looser chael will tapout at soon as he can like a little crybaby. but would be fun to see him take a beating first and get what he asked for..

Everything Jones said is true. Chael will be stuffed and man handled like a rag doll, he is a gangster in his Hollywood dreams, a mediocre wrestler in real life who needs chemical stimulus to convince him he could be at a level he never will be at. Chael for HW champ 2014…..NOT!!.

Talk is just that, talk, nothing more. Simple fact is that Chael has little to offer to beat Jones. Jones would have to have a pretty bad night for Sonnen to beat him. This one may not make it out of the first round.

As a person I'm a fan of Chael only, as fighters I'm a fan of both. I'll be cheering for the underdog, but I don't see much of a chance for him to be honest.

Although the things Jones is saying are completely unneccessary and in my opinion just further showcases his immaturity and lack of humility.

The difference is that Chael is playing a character and joking 90% of the time to sell the fight, doing both fighters a favour in the process. While Jones is being honest and has some of the thinnest skin I've seen, he seems to require ******* himself off in order to fight somebody effectively.

I liked and supported Jones right up until the moment that he started signing his name "Champion 2012" like a complete arrogant douchebag. I prefer the Jon Jones that said very little and destroyed people with sh!t you've never seen done in the octagon.

Fedor will forever be the perfect example of how a fighter should conduct themselves. And when you come off as juvenile as Jones does, it would work in your favour and have more of an impact to simply talk very little while destroying everyone in your path.

If there is one Championship Title Bout that I don't care about in 2013, it's this one.

Sonnen in no way earned this fight and I see him as in no way, a legitimate threat. He's a (UFC) 5 & 3 fighter, with one stoppage to his credit and that was a submission, over the ground challenged Brian Stann. John Jones is going to stomp all over him and nothing Sonnen can do, could do, will do, would do, will prevent that stomping.

If this fight was to be sold, it should have been sold weeks ago via they hype from Sonnen on TUF. That never happened. It never even came close to happening. For me, this fight can't be hyped or sold @ this point. The only real reason to buy the PPV is to watch Sonnen take a short beating, because he won't last 5 rounds with Bones Jones. It's just not going to happen.

As to The Champ musing as to what Sonnen wants, what Sonnen wants is to ride out the hype train for as long as he can, for those that still buy into his BS and make as much money as he possibly can, before he is deemed or proven irrelevant and pack it in. To me, as I watch him on TUF or his role as commentator on TV, Sonnen already seems more concerned about his successful transition to TV personality, than fighter.

He will never be a UFC Champion, regardless of division and he knows it. He had his two kicks at the can and failed. He will do no better with a third kick at the can and certainly not against an opponent that Anderson Silva himself, is trepidatious of facing. Jones has smashed 5 former Champions in a row, he will have no problem with adding a 3 time title contender, to that list.

Gotta say, not much to dislike about this (unless you're a Chael fan).

Outside of some tourneys and meets Chael was never a Champion in wrestling and was only a champ in MMA for Bodog. So calling him out for it is completely right.

I almost clapped at the comment for Chael being known to tap incredibly quickly. He's fought through some guillotines quite well, but whenever anybody is remotely close to an armbar or triangle he can't tap fast enough. Just look at the first Anderson fight; the sub wasn't even fully locked.

As for the questioning of Chael's heart; it might have not been the nices thing in the world to do, but IMO it shows that Jon is growing more mature/confident as he gets older. He hasn't been disrespectful once on the show, and he's just bided his time to let loose.

Chael might play a character for attention, but this is fighting. In the end, he'll have to answer for what he said over and over about Jon in the cage. And it'll be in a match up that he has less skill for virtually every category pertaining to MMA..

Although with that said, I'd like to also know that the two of you have some sort of respect for what Chael has accomplished both in and out of the cage given his limited skill set and lack of dynamics.

His dtermination can't be ignored. Not just anyone can do what he did to Silva or Stann or Okami. You guys speak of Chael with a very dismissive tone, almost paying him zero credit.

The guy has used a combination of both his fighting and speaking gifts to put him in some amazingly opportunisitc situations, more so than any fighter in history in my opinion. That alone demands a form of respect, he's very intelligent and a very good fighter.

Doesn't have anything to do with being a fan or not, I just enjoy seeing fighters get their respect where it's due.

"His dtermination can't be ignored. Not just anyone can do what he did to Silva or Stann or Okami. You guys speak of Chael with a very dismissive tone, almost paying him zero credit."

If that's what you take from it than fine. However, what I wrote wasn't pertaining to Chael's career when talking about every category in MMA. It was just Chael's skills compared to Jones. Everything I implied about his career was comparative to championship level fighters.

The points about Chael tapping quickly and never being a champion in a big organization (or on the international level in his wrestling career) are accurate. Yes, he has some really good wins in his career but he's not the champion he calls himself. He's a good fighter, nothing great (outside of a decent run against Anderson in 2010).

"Doesn't have anything to do with being a fan or not, I just enjoy seeing fighters get their respect where it's due."

That's all well and good Bryan, but its also a bit hypocritical.

Everybody's entitled to their opinion here about certain fighters. If you don't wanna show Nick Diaz respect, that's fine. If certain folks don't wanna show Sonnen respect, that is also fine. The things they have said about other fighters is going to bring backlash. Whether or not it is just for attention.

The only time I've been a big apologist (I'd guess you'd call it that) is when Anderson was appearing to veer away from the rematch in 2011, and when folks here (and other places) were dismissing the first match as nothing more than a fluke.

Chael will always be a tough match up for Anderson.He might not ever beat him, but he'll always give him some problems simply because of the style match up.

That doesn't mean I was ever a huge fan of his. I've found a lot of stuff he's said over the past few years entertaining for sure, and I think he was more than worthy of being the #1 contender a few times. That's about it though.

@Evan-Go back and watch the first WEC title fight between Chael and Paulo Filho. Chael was stuck in a deep armbar and wasn't tapping at all. The ref stopped it anyway because supposedly Chael was yelling. But that's stupid. Diego Sanchez yells when he needs more strength and intensity, like when he ran across the cage with a guy up on his shoulder, screaming away and then slammed him. Chael was probably amping himself up and then the fight got stopped.